In the cities of the rich world no woman is expected to wear a garment until it is worn out. (Men, unaccountably, tend to hold on to their clothes for years, but the industry is working on the problem.) The clothes industry would be in a pickle without a constant supply of clients dissatisfied with the contents of their wardrobes.

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Privately, some right-wing leaders admit that Mr Lavin is an expendable stop-gap until the 2005 election, when they expect that a worn-out Concertacion will be easier to beat.

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Says he: "Armchair professors and bureaucrats who sit behind desks pushing a pencil all day can work until age 68 without any serious difficulty, " but manual workers are too worn out by physical labor to stay on the job that long.

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